Help!!

[orange&white]

That's great progress! Once they figure out that they are not hurt by being held, they usually come around quickly to enjoying it, or at least relaxing and not trying to squirm away as quickly.

 

[trudy1]

Keep the faith! I have 7 feral rescues. They range all the way from "sure I'll climb in your lap and stay till your legs go to sleep" to "you're not petting me except on my terms, where and when I choose!!".

This is after a year with some. Seems they all have varying degrees of contact and touching they are satisfied with.

Just be willing to give a lot and take what they give you. Your doing a great thing, by the way!

 

[kjlavall]

Update: the local humane society has a no kill adoption center that agreed to look at the two kittens and review them before accepting into the center this Saturday. We have made good progress but fear in a strange environment they will regress. I am away from home this week and having a difficult time dealing with the notion of just handing them over to complete strangers to a point where I am finding it difficult to sleep. This whole ordeal has been emotional for both my wife and I and while she is able to do the sensible thing and just let go (she is a stronger person than I) I just can't seem to come to grips with it. I think we all need a story book ending in our lives once in a while and perhaps these little guys have pulled out those care giving protector instincts within me that have been unneeded for many years now my children are grown...... I need to overcome my emotions and do what is right for my wife and other two cats who we also adore.

 

[kjlavall]

 

[trudy1]

I know exactly what you’re going through. We have five more than your two babies already. So what did we do, being cat people we rescue six kittens.
We were able to adopt three which left us with three of the sweetest, most adorable... oh there I go.
Anyway we anguished over what to do. Our older cat loved them and played all the time. But we knew they were growing and would be hard to place if we waited until they were full grown. I had tried everything, posters in vets offices, stores, ads on local swap shop radio stations, but finally got a call from a rescue group 70 miles away who would let us use their slots reserved at a no kill shelter.
We cried together, cried all the way up there, cried when we left them and cried all the way home! But in our hearts we felt it was better for them. Kittens are easier to place and in an answer to much prayer they were all adopted within 2 weeks!

Yes we still cry when we see their pics on the iPad. But we also know they are better off and we are not having 10 cats in the house. We also know in our rural area more are coming!

It’s a very personal decision but this was a good decision in the long run for us.

 

[Sarthur2]

If you seriously want to keep them, know that over time, the cats will all adjust and blend well together.

I, like you, cannot hand them over. I have kept every cat I've ever rescued.

 

[kjlavall]

Thank you for the responses, those kittens are adorable. I am sure they have all brightened someone's life tremendously! My main concern is that mine are not fully socialized and older. I fear they will end up in the hands of someone that does not understand their needs or history and they will end up either outside, back at the shelter or worse. The shelter said they do put down sick cats or cats they have been deemed un-adoptable. The are already getting close to the no longer a kitten stage and if they regress, they could easily fall into the un-adoptible category. If they were sweat, cuddly tiny fuzz balls I would feel better about it although it would still be hard. I also think they need to stay together for any chance of normalizing.

 

[Sarthur2]

I agree! And there are already so many needy cats out there.

Would your wife be terribly upset if you kept them?

It seems these kitties already have a perfectly good home with you.

 

[kjlavall]

Unfortunately my wife would have to shoulder the burden of caring for all of them. I travel a great deal for my job and my wife works full time plus we have a new grand baby which is the focus of most of our attention right now. I need to respect her wishes. It pains her as well but me being gone as much as I am already is asking a lot of her. She already donates her time to a local cat shelter, battered women's facility and others. We saved thier little lives and now we must pass the baton.

 

[Sarthur2]

Do you have any friends or relatives who might adopt them? Private placement is always preferable.

Otherwise, let the shelter know they need to be adopted together as they are a bonded pair. Hopefully, the shelter will honor this.

Best of luck to you!

 

[trudy1]

So have you decided what to do? Will it have a “storybook ending” as you mentioned initially?Please keep us updated.

 

[kjlavall]

So have you decided what to do? Will it have a “storybook ending” as you mentioned initially?Please keep us updated.

We brought them to the adptio

 

[kjlavall]

We brought them to the adoption clinic this morning. We met some very nice volunteers and all could not say enough nice thing about the place. There were many tears and we both are emotionally drained but are happy they will now have an opportunity to live and be loved as they deserve and no longer living in a wire cage. They are keeping them together and I can only hope they will be adopted together. The people there said they will adopt very quickly because of how adorable and pretty they are. My wife held them both this morning and they purred and enjoyed it even as my wife's tears were dropping onto their little heads. We will follow them on the internet as they post cats that are up for adoption. If they don't adopt together we may consider adopting the other which would likely be the quieter female. Maybe not the story book ending I was hopping for but I guess at the end of the day there are 3 kittens that now have a chance living a normal life now because of us and a mother who will never have to worry about caring for kittens again or bringing even more unwanted innocent lives into the world.

For those of you who are struggling with feral kittens, keep at it. We did it even though there were times we were sure it was hopeless. They both passed the clinics socialization test with flying colors. The female is still apprehensive and scared for good reason but the male is 100% socialized.....and he was by far the worst and the runt of the three. He is now the biggest and not the same cat he was 6 weeks ago. Now it is time for us to return to our normal relatively dull routine and forever will remember those little angels who truly made this past holiday season so special and a reminder what it is really all about. I will update this thread when they get adopted.

 

[kjlavall]

We brought them to the adoption clinic this morning. We met some very nice volunteers and all could not say enough nice thing about the place. There were many tears and we both are emotionally drained but are happy they will now have an opportunity to live and be loved as they deserve and no longer living in a wire cage. They are keeping them together and I can only hope they will be adopted together. The people there said they will adopt very quickly because of how adorable and pretty they are. My wife held them both this morning and they purred and enjoyed it even as my wife's tears were dropping onto their little heads. We will follow them on the internet as they post cats that are up for adoption. If they don't adopt together we may consider adopting the other which would likely be the quieter female. Maybe not the story book ending I was hopping for but I guess at the end of the day there are 3 kittens that now have a chance living a normal life now because of us and a mother who will never have to worry about caring for kittens again or bringing even more unwanted innocent lives into the world.

For those of you who are struggling with feral kittens, keep at it. We did it even though there were times we were sure it was hopeless. They both passed the clinics socialization test with flying colors. The female is still apprehensive and scared for good reason but the male is 100% socialized.....and he was by far the worst and the runt of the three. He is now the biggest and not the same cat he was 6 weeks ago. Now it is time for us to return to our normal relatively dull routine and forever will remember those little angels who truly made this past holiday season so special and a reminder what it is really all about. I will update this thread when they get adopted.

Update: Based on the website pictures it appears that both were adopted sometime today after spending less than a day there. Both pictures are gone so I assume they were both adopted together. The folks there said they world strongly recommend they stay together. I pray they both have long and happy lives with their new family.

 

[trudy1]

Yea! Isn’t it great when a plan comes together?

You did a good thing. Just some advice: if you’re like me with the kittens I relinquished there will be those quiet times when that still small voice whispers in your ear “ are they really doing well? Or did you reall do the right thing?”. Just put those thoughts aside because they are not from a good source and know you did well giving them a great life chance!

Thanks for letting us into your story.

 

[kjlavall]

Thank you for the advise. Yes, it is not easy as you say but I guess we always knew it would be hard to let them go. We still have Scout who is coming to the rescue again only this time he is showing us the way.